How Successful Schools Work

The Impact of Innovative School Leadership

Rona Tutt, Paul Williams, Author

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9781446207703, 9781446207697
• eBook ISBN: 9781473903258
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Administration

Inside this book are case studies of cutting edge best practice from inspirational heads and school leaders doing excellent work in schools. They all illustrate how the role, and style, of school leadership is changing.

 

By looking at what attracts teachers to leadership roles, and how they use their power, this book examines innovative leadership in action. The authors look at the characteristics of innovative school leaders, and reflect on how these people work. An appetite for challenge, a desire for a sense of well-being for all those involved in the school and its development and an ability to flex their style of leadership all emerge as core factors in their success.

 

Topics covered include:

 

- the changing role of school leaders

- leading inclusive environments

- the power of innovative leadership

- identifying the challenges ahead

 

The perfect read for anyone wanting to make a difference to their school or setting, this book will show you how it is done.

 

Rona Tutt is Past President of the National Association of Headteachers, now working as an Educational Consultant.

 

Paul Williams is a very experienced Head Teacher, based in London, who has held a number of leadership roles.

1

The attraction of leadership

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Chapter overview

This chapter explores what attracts people to the idea of becoming school leaders. This is pursued through reports of conversations with teachers at different stages of their career, including aspiring leaders and those who are already assistant head teachers or deputy head teachers.

In addition, the views are given of those who have attained headship and who are taking on fresh challenges, either in terms of improving their own school, or by taking on additional responsibilities.

In addition to the case studies, the chapter concludes with a mention of the newest type of academy, namely the free school.

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The changing nature of school leadership

There is no doubt that demands on head teachers have increased steadily over the last two decades and the job itself has changed out of all recognition. Rising expectations of what schools will achieve, combined with the amount of bureaucracy and accountability involved, have made many teachers think twice about moving up the career ladder.

A group of head teachers who were discussing these changes recently, commented on how they had affected long-standing and newer heads differently, with those who were coming into the role knowing what they were taking on, while established heads have had to adjust to a way of life where change not only happens all the time, but occurs at an ever quicker pace. Despite the workload and the pressures, however, there are heads who not only take on the role, but who actively seek additional challenges.

Challenges and opportunities

Throughout this book, there are accounts of school leaders who have been proactive, and who never stop finding new ways of driving their schools forward, despite the sometimes overwhelming demands of the job.

Assistant and deputy head teachers

As mentioned in the previous chapter, the role of assistant head was introduced in September 2000, as part of a reorganisation of school leadership posts. As new staffing structures came into place, both primary and secondary schools were keen to appoint assistant head teachers. Between 2005 and 2009, assistant heads in primary schools doubled in number, while those in secondary schools increased by 21 per cent. At the same time, numbers of deputy heads decreased by 7 per cent, which was a cause of some concern, as it was felt that there might be fewer teachers ready to take up headships. However, there are plenty of examples of teachers moving on to headship without being deputies first.

The attraction of leading a school

In the following paragraphs, there are accounts of teachers who are aspiring heads and of assistant head teachers and deputy head teachers who explain the reasons why they took on their current role. Some are aiming for headship and some prefer to remain in their current role.

Aspiring heads

The Accelerate to Headship programmes, mentioned in the previous chapter, have proved to be an important route in trying to get more teachers interested in headship at a time when there is a bulge in the numbers due to retire. Two of the many teachers who have followed this route are now assistant heads in London. Both have followed the Future Leaders programme, but one took a more circuitous route by beginning the Teach First programme. (Teach First fast tracks promising graduates and places them in the classroom after six weeks of intensive training. They then spend two years in tough secondary schools.)

The first graduate had always wanted to teach, but after starting the Teach First programme, she was not sure that she had made the right decision and so she worked in the city for three years. She said that this confirmed to her that teaching was the right profession for her after all. Hearing about Future Leaders, she joined the programme and she is now working as an assistant head in a challenging secondary school in London. She intends to become a deputy and then a head and would want to stay in a similar type of school. One of her current projects is to evaluate the Opening Minds approach (which is featured in Chapter 4).

The second Future Leaders’ entrant to the profession is a young man who never planned to be a teacher. However, after leaving university, he decided to take a post graduate certificate of education (PGCE) course in a shortage subject. After teaching for six years in two different schools, and having come across what he describes as some inspirational head teachers, he began applying for assistant head teacher posts. When he was not immediately successful, he decided to apply for the Future Leaders programme.

As part of his training, he went to Chicago, where he visited a range of charter schools and met some outstanding leaders. He took away from the experience the feeling that he would want to have a school that ensured students who were at risk of failure could have interventions very early. It also reinforced his view that relationships between teachers and students are at the heart of a successful school. He comments:

Future Leaders has given me a range of skills to become a successful head teacher but most importantly, they have created a network of support for those days when things are tough and advice and support are needed.

Other routes to headship

Fifteen years ago, when looking for employment, a young lady with no experience of helping in school, took on a job as a temporary teaching assistant in a special school. She enjoyed the work and obtained a permanent post in the same school. Later, she decided to train as a teacher. As she already had a degree, she was able to get a place on the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP). Some years later, she became the key stage 3 coordinator and joined the senior leadership team (SLT). Although she is not an assistant head, she continues to plan for the next stage of her career, encouraged by her head who recognises her potential. She believes that headship would enable her to take responsibility for the well-being of staff, while having additional scope to put forward her own ideas for the school’s development. She sees this, not so much as a career plan, but as part of her life plan, as she has tried all along to balance the needs of her family with what is right for her own development.

Assistant heads

In one large primary school, as well as a deputy head, there are three assistant heads, who are given considerable responsibilities and scope for their own professional development.

One assistant head is an early years specialist, who, before taking on her current role, had always believed she would aim to be head of a nursery school or children’s centre, or an early years adviser. However, since taking on a wider role, including that of being the school’s SENCo, her interests and options have broadened, so she is not sure which direction she will take, but she remains keen to further her career.

A second assistant head has always been very ambitious and more or less assumed that headship would be her aim. However, having recently had her first child, she is more conscious of the workload attached to being a head and the impact this might have on family life. At present, she is thinking in terms of taking up a deputy head’s post in a smaller primary school. In the longer term, she is still interested in becoming a head, but it would have to be at a time that was right for the family.

The third assistant head has also had a baby recently and is currently on maternity leave. Some time ago, she completed a Middle Managers’ course, which she found very valuable, particularly as it gave her an opportunity to meet other people in similar positions. At the time, she considered moving on to the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) quite quickly. Although she is still aiming for headship, she was concerned that the expectation that people would aim for headship within a specified timescale may have put off some teachers from applying to take the NPQH, and she is pleased this restriction has been lifted.

Deputy heads

By way of contrast to the three assistant heads, the next two people are already deputy heads and see it as a long-term role in its own right. They have both been in the position for over 10 years, one in a secondary special school and one in a large primary school. Their satisfaction with their present roles may be partly because they have been given plenty of scope to use and develop their talents where they are now, and are left to run their schools on a regular basis. And this is, perhaps, an indication of how the role is changing. So many heads now take on additional roles or responsibilities that they need to be able to rely on an experienced deputy to be in charge of the school while they are engaged in their wider role.

The special school deputy enjoys being involved in professional development and, if she were to change her current position, would be more likely to find a role in the field of professional development than in seeking a headship. She feels she already has plenty of opportunity to try out new ideas and suggests that headship could be more restricting than her current post. The other deputy head works in a primary school that has expanded considerably and so her responsibilities have increased while she has remained in the same post. As the head has many roles, including being a National Leader of Education (NLE), she enjoys being in the driving seat and feels no urge to be the person who is ultimately responsible for the whole school. Both these deputies are very active school leaders, without wanting to become head teachers.

The final deputy teaches in a primary school in Northern Ireland, where he is known as a deputy principal. Some years ago, he took a Middle Managers’ course, which he found both helpful and enjoyable. He followed this by taking the Professional Qualification for Headship (PQH), which is the equivalent of the NPQH in Northern Ireland. Despite finding the training useful, he believes his real training for headship has resulted from being in charge of his school for a year as acting principal.

Other school leaders

Although assistant and deputy headship are the more traditional routes to becoming a head teacher, with the diversification of leadership teams in schools, there are other pathways emerging. An example of this is Sue Street, who is currently director of e-learning at a high school in London.

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Case study: Sue Street

Sue’s rather unusual journey towards school leadership in England started 15 years ago in New Zealand, where she trained first as a doctor and then as an educational administrator. However, she realised belatedly that what she really wanted to do was to teach. After working in a school in her home country, she came to teach in England, originally for one year, but then decided she would like to stay here.

She worked in several schools in London before becoming a local authority adviser, where she gained experience of working with schools in difficult circumstances. She found that she relished a role that combined trouble shooting and problem solving with the opportunity to become an advocate for the professional development of all staff. This led to Sue being asked to take on a succession of management roles.

Last year, Sue completed the NPQH as she very much wants to become a head teacher. She has a clear idea about why she would like the role and what she would want to achieve. She sums this up as: putting teaching and learning at the heart of what the school does; seeing the professional development of staff as central to a school’s ability to move forward; and improving the achievement of all pupils. Sue has been in schools where the head has not stayed long enough to make an impact and she says she would hope to remain in her first headship for at least five years.

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Questions for reflection

1. Do you think every school should have a deputy head and what are your reasons?
2. What do you see as the balance of responsibilities between assistant heads and deputy heads?
3. Should the role of deputy head be seen as a valuable one in its own right or only as a stepping stone to becoming a head?
4. List some of the advantages and disadvantages of becoming a head teacher in today’s climate.

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Managing change

Much has been written about the management of change and the need for school leaders to take staff with them in effecting change within a school. Michael Fullan began identifying change as an important theme in the early 1980s and has followed this through in his more recent writings, such as in his book Leading in a Culture of Change (2001), where he continues to stress the need for leaders to understand the process of change.

Some changes are forced on schools by events at national or local level. Others are changes that come about because a school, s...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• About the authors
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations and Acronyms
• How to Use this Book
• Introduction
• 1: The attraction of Leadership
• 2: Changing styles of Leadership
• 3: Leading Inclusive Environments
• 4: The Power of Leadership
• 5: Generating Well-Being
• 6: Staying at the Forefront
• Conclusion
• References and Further Reading
• Index